


The Ancient Dance

by EnemyAnemone912



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Between Episodes, Between Seasons/Series, F/M, Fluff, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 17:27:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9000046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnemyAnemone912/pseuds/EnemyAnemone912
Summary: The Doctor is late for their date, but that's not surprising. One-Shot





	

The Doctor dropped Rory and Amy off at home with a flourish, their clothes still soaked through with acid rain. They had no idea why he was in such a hurry to get rid of them, when he usually stayed for a cup of tea and a biscuit at their house afterwards. Pacing rapidly around the room as Rory started to peel off his lemony layers, wincing as the liquid hit the tiny cuts he had garnered, Amy muttered, "there's gotta be something going on here. I mean, we have the kettle warm! I just..." she sighed, dropping to the sofa like a bag of bricks, eyes narrowing as she tried to think of possibilities. "Unless," she hopped up off the couch and sprinted out of room, out the front door and right back into the TARDIS, where The Doctor now stood putting gel in his hair. As soon as he registered her appearance there he threw the gel as far as he could in the opposite direction of Amy, a look of guilt and surprise on his face, like a child that had just been caught stealing plums from the refrigerator.

"Amy!" He tried to block the coordinates that had come up on one of the TARDIS's screens with his body, folding himself into an awkward position that he tried to make look casual, but was failing supremely at achieving that goal. "I thought I dropped you off with your HUSBAND (he raised his voice on this last word, and Amy snorted with laughter, crossing her arms) to try and relieve him of burns to his papercuts. So why are you still in sexy?" An alarm started beeping behind him, and both their eyes immediately flitted to it. The Doctor sized up Amy and her impressive leg length, which meant she might be able to reach the screen now displaying the reason for the alarm, while Amy noted that the TARDIS was probably on his side and would block her path. They both sprang for the screen at the same time, limbs crashing into each other as they tumbled over the other person in the effort to view the screen. Amy, despite tripping over the container of hair gel, was nearly about to reach the screen when The Doctor came up from the other side of the console, and slammed down on a button, causing the screen to fly over to his side. He read it quickly, then sighed. Actual despair seemed to cross over his face, before a childlike pout emerged. "Well now you've made me late."

Amy stalked slowly to the other side of the console, crossing her arms once more. Her words, when they came, were slightly out of breath, but retained her caustic edge. "Wouldn't have been necessary if you just told me what you have that is so important."

He took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut as his words spilled out. "I may have, well actually I do have and it's going to be quite nice really, when it happens..."

"Just say it!"

"... a date with your daughter one minute ago." There was silence for a beat, and he popped an eye open hesitantly, to find Amy fighting to control her giggles as they spilled out. She bent over, grabbing onto a railing for support as she wheezed, before taking a seat.

A moment after catching her breath, she finally said, incredulously, "Really?! This is what you were worried about?" He put his hands in his trouser pockets and managed a little, bashful grin. She stood and walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder gently, before smacking him. "Good grief Doctor, if you have to be worried about anyone, it's Rory. He's extremely protective. And defensive, which come to think of it, is pointless. Anyway, I need to go help him. He's helpless."

"He did survive for a thousand years on Earth alone, I don't really believe that's helpless." She rolled her eyes at him and then walked towards the door, before pausing to turn back and look at him.

"Actually, Doctor, if I was concerned about anyone, it'd be River. We Ponds hate to wait. Well, except for Rory but," she smiled sweetly as she exited the TARDIS, "he's special."

He smiled back at her, one side of his mouth lifting further than the other. The moment she left he turned around, checking the coordinates with those in the blue notebook one more time. Then, straightening his bowtie, he pulled the lever, sending the TARDIS flying through space and time. "C'mon, c'mon darling. I've got to be there on time. One more late, and well... I'd like to live past today, thank you very much."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

River was waiting. Now, this was fairly typical, but that didn't mean she liked it. On the most recent page that had shown up in the journal, it even mentioned that he was going to be very late to this particular date, and River had still decided to buy chilled wine. Why she even bothered to get wine when he barely drank the stuff she didn't even know. She took another sip of wine from her nearly empty glass and watched as the dual moons of Jodana circled themselves over the night sky. It was called the Ancient Dance, their orbit. The dance that they had done from their inception, and the dance they would do until they faded into the blackness of oblivion. It was said that if you sat on the peak of the highest mountain with a lover, and mimicked the dance of the moons, your names would engrave themselves on the peak of the mountain for a millennia. When River had read about this date in the journal, she had swooned. And she had been swooning as she wondered how she would get there. She had been swooning over the romanticism of the moment until she realized that she was the one buying the wine. She read over the entry once more. Who knew how late he would be? She set her face with determination, willing herself not to cry. She was stronger than this. Love may have made her a victim, but she still could pack a mean punch.

The moons were in their descent now, and the first rays of dawn were about to break over the horizon as River awoke, body stiff and sore from the lack of comfort on the mountain. She looked around, and a tear fell from her eye. She guessed the journal was wrong. He wasn't going to be late. He just wasn't going to be here either. And then she heard that sound. The sound that he, for some reason seemed to love so much. The sound of terrible driving. She turned around to see the blue box materialize, and he jumped out, hair perfectly groomed, jacket scorched. She stood up, smiling through the watery eyes as his lips quirked into a grin. "Hello sweetie. Sorry I'm late. Traffic was murder. Quite literally."

They stepped forward towards each other, River forgetting the bottle of wine. They were suddenly inches away from each other, and he pulled her in closer, kissing her lightly, one hand around her waist, the other brushing over her face. She pulled away, still smiling, tears streaked down her cheeks. She shook her head, trembling slightly. "Oh, I hate you."

They both laughed then, still entwined in each other, as he leaned in, whispering in her ear, cockiness and joy inscribed on the soul of every word. "No you don't." Then he pushed her away, spinning like Ginger Rogers, and he bowed, kissing her hand. "While the moon's still high... may I have this dance?" She nodded quickly, and then he spun her back towards him. The Ancient Dance was less a series of steps and choreography then it was a feeling to the actions. It was said that the moons had been people madly in love living on Jodana until one got an incurable illness. The other made a pact with the gods to spare his life. The only condition was that the other lover would die. The pact was made, but when the man awoke to his new state of health to find his true love dead, he killed himself. The gods had made them into the moons, and rewound time, thrusting them back to the start of the world. They would continue their dance of love until the end of eternity. The moons went down over the final ridge of mountains, and River and The Doctor continued to dance, even without the music of the heavens to guide them. The final star of the night sky beamed down on them, and inscribed their names in Gallifreyan on the peak of the mountain.

They sat afterwards on the mountain. "So," River asked, "what took you so long?"

"Oh, the usual." He wrapped an arm around her. "There's this planet of lava, they do a great curry dish, and these lava people were being threatened to be flooded. I needed to step in."

River nodded, deep in thought. She then sighed, and turned to look at him, squinting slightly as the purple sun of Jodana was directly behind him. "Sweetie, for our next date, I was thinking Darillium. I've heard the songs are just to die for. And fascinating archaeologically. What do you say? Although, you'll have to bring the drinks."

A shadow passed over his face and he turned away. She couldn't see his face anymore, but if she had, she would have seen the tears welling up in his eyes, and the great, unstoppable sadness that was written on his face. "Of course. Whatever you want, River." With that, he kissed her once more, then walked back to the TARDIS, leaving her on Jodana. She was glad she still had her ride. She glanced down at the journal. The pages hadn't yet filled themselves in. What would come next? Why, she hadn't the faintest idea.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as a present for A Pentaholic11 Christmas on Quizup. Enjoy


End file.
